The Hindu : Descent of the Lord

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Descent of the Lord

CHENNAI DEC.30. The scriptures and saints alike have glorified the Krishna incarnation of God as a full manifestation among His several descents. Even though the Almighty had from time to time incarnated in the world to reinstate Dharma whenever there was threat to it, after the advent of the Lord as Rama the atrocities committed by the Asuras had increased with passage of time that it necessitated His manifestation once again. Narayana Bhattatiri who composed the Narayaneeyam on the lines of the Bhagavata Purana, in his prelude to the description of Krishna's descent, underscores the nature of this incarnation in the words of the Lord Himself to the creator, Brahma, "I know the suffering caused to the celestials and the Earth by cruel kings. For the removal of that suffering I shall take birth in the Yadava clan as a complete incarnation. Let the celestials be born in the Vrshni clan as part-incarnations."

In his discourse, Sri T.N.Ramachandra Sarma said it was to relieve the burden of Mother Earth when she sought the help of Brahma, to whom even the celestials had surrendered, that God promised to incarnate in the world. The thousand-headed serpent-god Ananta (Sesha), who accompanied the Lord as his younger brother Lakshmana during His Rama incarnation, on this occasion preceded Him as His elder brother, Balarama. There are two interesting asides to the manifestation of Sesha given by scholars.

The Lord Himself after His descent as Rama desired that He should be born as the younger brother in His next incarnation so that He would have an occasion to listen to His elder. Lakshmana who had implicitly obeyed Rama always had reservation when He instructed him to leave Sita in the forest but being His younger brother he could not disobey Him. Commentators note that Lakshmana then felt that he should never be made to face a similar predicament again and it is for this reason that he was reborn as Krishna's elder brother Balarama.

Before Krishna's birth, His Maya, the power by which the entire universe stands bewitched, was also born as a part manifestation to Yashoda as a girl child to aid Him to carry out the objective of His descent. It was also responsible for transferring Devaki's seventh child (Balarama) to Rohini even before birth. It was due to Maya's potency that everyone was deluded into believing that Devaki's seventh child had perished. Hence Balarama could grow up in Nanda's household without arousing suspicion.

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